ExperienceLab

Is there a connection?

We've all seen the news that big stores are driving small high street retailers out of business, and I've often thought that high street retailers are an important part of a towns’ financial well-being.

However after visiting my local small electrical retailer I think I might have an idea why so many of them are going out of business. Picture the scene, I'm on my merry way home from one of those dastardly out of town electrical stores after a bit of a shopping spree when I realise that I've forgotten to buy a small but essential audio connector. Never mind I think, I'll pop into my local electrical retailer and pick one up; I've heard that they can do with my business.

Revolution in connectivity for mobile devices?

I got to play with one of the Flip video cameras for the first time yesterday. These are video recorders, the size of a compact camera that seem to work brilliantly even in very low light and some models can even record in HD quality.

Beyond the video recording functionality, the aspect I was particularly excited to see was the reason for the name 'Flip'. The camera has a built in USB socket that 'flips' out from the side. I gather it also has any software required to transfer the videos built in. Whilst not exactly rocket science, this is a real innovation in connectivity and so user experience, and one I am delighted to see. No more hunting around for a memory card adapter or USB cable to transfer content could have a big impact on the regularity with which users transfer their content. 

Could we start seeing similar built in USB features on camera and mobile phones in the future? I do hope so.

"Take Back The Beep" Campaign

What if you were a mobile phone company and you could figure out a way to keep millions of customers on the line for an extra 15 seconds every time they left a voicemail message? You'd make millions.

In the US, when you call someone's mobile and it rolls over to voicemail, you hear their outgoing message and then an extra message from the carrier telling you, in case you've never done it before, how to talk after the beep. That's the extra 15 seconds.

David Pogue, the Personal Technology correspondent for the New York Times, does the numbers: